Apple Debuts New iPhone Software Without Steve Jobs

Apple has long relied on CEO Steve Jobs to inject the glam factor into the company’s product announcements. But with Jobs sidelined on medical leave for six months, who did Apple rely on to introduce new software for its iPhone? Scott Forstall, a senior vice president.

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Scott Forstall, a senior VP at Apple, discusses updates to the iPhone.

At an event that appeared more subdued than usual, Mr. Forstall previewed new software for the iPhone Tuesday with more than 100 new features. The feature that drew some of the biggest applause was a cut, copy and paste function that had been missing from the phone so far.

Apple said it took this long to come up with what is typically a standard feature, in part because it wanted an intuitive user interface. The copy and paste works by simply tapping on the text, dragging it to the new location and tapping again. It’s also possible to copy and paste between applications.

Typical of Apple, however, it added one new innovation — perhaps in exchange for being late — users can undo pastes simply by shaking the phone.

There was one feature that users asked for but didn’t get this time: the ability to use their iPhones as modems for their laptop computers.